Information Governance: 2015 Predictions

New Leaders Will Continue to Emerge

In the last few years, there has been a tremendous uptick in the creation of information governance steering committees; however, there is still a need for an executive in each organization to drive the information governance initiative across their company. This executive must have the authority (and oversight) to manage the program. Remember, information governance is not a one-time project; it is a continuous program that must be backed within the organization and IT infrastructure.

To be successful, this executive must report directly to the CEO and work with all the various stakeholders – legal, records, business and IT. Gartner expects this executive will be the chief data officer, while the Information Governance Initiative (IGI) predicts a new role called the chief information governance officer (CIGO) will emerge. Regardless of what title you place on this person, the individual will drive new standards, controls, processes, disciplines and corporate objectives for the global organization.

In this digital age, it is crucial that corporate documents, both electronic and physical, are governed to ensure that organizations remain fully compliant. As the mountain of information grows, so too does the burden to manage it. With the ever-increasing frequency of electronic communication in the workplace, information governance is a field that will continue to grow and evolve in the coming years.

2014 was a big year for information governance, with records managers embracing the need and driving the transformation from existing records management practices to full information governance in their organizations. Many of the information management conferences and organizations focused their efforts on information governance in 2014 including AIIM and ARMA, as well as the newly formed Information governance Initiative (IGI). AIIM focused one of its Executive Leadership Councils (ELC) on information governance and ARMA jointly staged with the Sedona Conference the first Executive Conference on information governance.

Moving into 2015, organizations must make understanding the value of their information assets a resolution. According to Bassam Zarkout, CTO, RSD, technology alone is not a solution; instead, it must be coupled with cultural changes within an organization in order to implement a successful information governance program. The following slideshow discusses key information governance trends to watch for in 2015.